From the Bookshelf of Into the Forest…

Bitter Greens

Kate Forsyth

Start date: November 15, 2014

Finish date: January 14, 2015

Discussion: Previous Group Reads

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What Members Thought

Jun 23, 2014 Shomeret rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: my-reviews, fantasy, historical-fiction

The ideal reader for this book would be someone who loves both historical fiction and fairy tales. The reader who dislikes one of these types of narratives is likely to find a large portion of the novel rather tiresome. Fortunately, I am one of those readers who does enjoy both.

For me, the most interesting aspect of Bitter Greens is its structure. The two story lines are braided like Rapunzel’s hair. They share themes. All the female characters struggle for independence, and the power to decide ...more

27 likes · Like · see review

Nov 21, 2014 Melanti rated it really liked it

Shelves: library, fairy-tales-folklore-and-mythology, historical, group-reads, 2014

I wasn't expecting to like this much, but I ended up really enjoying it.

The fact that it's at least loosely based on a real historical fairy tale author makes it even better. The idea that she wrote one of the earliest versions of "Rapunzel" while being locked up in a convent herself is incredibly fascinating. (Not to mention the dancing bear costume!)

Maybe now that this book has come out and is so popular, it might persuade others to write more about her life as well -- because her life is obvi ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

May 07, 2012 Shellie (Layers of Thought) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-historical-fiction, spec-fic-fant-fairytales-fable-myth, element-strong-or-dark-female-chara, country-greece-mediterranean, element-retelling, country-europe-west, read-in-2014

Original review posted at Layers of Thought.

A wonderful women’s historical fiction story set in Renaissance Italy and France, layered with the fairytale of Rapunzel and a slight touch of dark magic.

Description: It’s France, June of 1666 (note all the 6’s) and Charlotte-Rose de la Force, an actual person and writer, has been banished from the court of King Louis XIV due to scandalous behavior. The king has forced her to live in a secluded convent where she serendipitously hears the story of Rapun Original review posted at Layers of Thought.

A wonderful women’s historical fiction story set in Renaissance Italy and France, layered with the fairytale of Rapunzel and a slight touch of dark magic.

Description: It’s France, June of 1666 (note all the 6’s) and Charlotte-Rose de la Force, an actual person and writer, has been banished from the court of King Louis XIV due to scandalous behavior. The king has forced her to live in a secluded convent where she serendipitously hears the story of Rapunzel from an old nun.

But it’s more complicated than that, with it’s layered and convoluted storylines. There are a bunch of things which add to its complexity - in front of each section are poems about Rapunzel written by other writers; the author has included operatic titles for each section of the book and the way the story builds has an operatic feel to it; and each of the key characters’ stories are told within the story of the others. Charlotte-Rose tells her story in first person, while Soeur Seraphina tells the fairytale to Charlotte-Rose, Margherita is the child that has been banished to a secluded tower, and Selena Leonelli (La Strega Bella) is the gorgeous witch. We get an involved tale about each of these key characters, all mixed up and blended together nicely.

Thoughts: Bitter Greens is well written and drew me in, with just enough historical details to give it depth and cultural context. And despite the complexity of the format for the story it is mostly easy to read and follow. I believe I was only confused once or twice when reading the trials of one of the many characters. I liked that the author takes the reader into 17th century France and 16th century Italy and that the character Charlotte-Rose was a real person. It was interesting to find out more about the court of King Louis XIV and the role that women played in society at the time. Also intriguing were the histories around the religious strife that occurred during his reign, as well as the complexities of Italian life and living in the time of the Black Death in Venice during the 1500’s.

Since I love to read and like the feel of real books, I want to mention that the lovely hardbound version of the book is easy to handle and well organized. It contains its operatic storyline sections listed in the first part of the book, there are also chapter titles and dates included for each of the sections, and poems are listed in front of the chapters. I liked that the chapters are typically short and that there are sometimes shorter sections broken down within the chapters, so that it is easy to dip in and out of the book.

All in all a terrific book that will appeal to women readers who like fairytale retellings, enjoy a touch of the magical in their reads, like strong and dark female characters, and love historical fiction. It is definitely a woman’s book. I also loved how the story ended which, importantly for me, is not one of those fantastical happily-ever-after conclusions. 4.5 stars for this page turning historical fiction with a touch of fantasy. It was a complete pleasure to read. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 18, 2016 Giselle rated it it was ok

Shelves: dnf

I am so disturbed by this book that I'm DNFing. It's an interesting book that I was enjoying but I felt sick, nauseous, and thoroughly disturbed while reading it. So I'm calling it quits 200 pages through with about 15 more mental scars than I had before starting. R rating ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 06, 2015 Molly Ringle rated it it was amazing

It's like Tangled crossed with Dangerous Beauty crossed with - uh - something set in Versailles in Sun King days! With witchcraft! Which is to say, totally my kind of thing. Kate Forsyth mixes well-researched historical fiction with straight-up fairy tales and magic, and I love the crazy result.

It's certainly gritty at times. There's blood and orphans and kidnapping and imprisonment and rape and plagues. But, you know, life in the 1500s; what can you do? And for me the grittiness was sufficient ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 17, 2014 Katy rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-not-finish, goodreads_giveaways

Won this as a GoodReads FirstReads. Historical fiction about the origins of the story Rapunzel.

Not what I want to read right now. Maybe later. Looking for a more literary read. The beginning of this reads like a thinly disguised romance novel. (August 2014)

Going to give this one a second chance:

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 14, 2015 Kyle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, fairy-tales, 2016-reads, rapunzel, favorite-fairy-tale-retellings, 2016-top-ten, goodreads-top-thirty

Inspired by early Italian and French versions of the fairy tale "Rapunzel," Kate Forsyth's novel sets out to tell us the "true" story of the girl in the tower (similar to the film "Ever After") and pin it in a ravishing and luscious historical time period with a dash of fantasy thrown in. This it succeeds at with flying colors. Split between two interwoven narratives, Renaissance Italy and France come vividly to life within the novel as do a bevy of interesting characters.

Much psychological com ...more

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Aug 20, 2023 Erin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I had this on my list forever and this year, I’m reading through some of those old TBRs. I wish I had loved this as much as I thought I would — it has all the hallmarks of something I’d love — but it just didn’t quite hit for me.

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